I picked up a pair of 7x50 Steiner Military Marines bins in like new condition for a song. I figured I would give them a try and the price was right.

I am kind of mixed on them right now. They are a great size for having 50mm objectives. The weight is just right. They really settle into my hands well and hold steady. I used them down in the creek bottom in my back yard and I was very impressed with how they render color (a little more true to life than my Yosemites). They delivered pretty bright performance under tree cover on a cloudy day.

However all is not roses. The "sweet spot" seems very small. In fact, it seems that much of the field of view is nearly unusable. This seems especially true on the left side of BOTH barrels. In fact, they wouldn't be nearly as bad were not for the left side. Could this be an alignment issue (I did do an alignment test and everything seemed to be ok)?

Also, as great as Steiner's "set it and forget it" focusing sounds on paper, but I think I prefer traditional center focus bins for dense cover. The Steiner system makes your eyes do the focusing between layers of brush and it can be tiring. Turning the knob to focus nearer or farer is easier on the eyes.

I will have to wait until the sun gets down to really test their low light performance. For the price, I think I can live with them if they really knock me out with their low light performance.

Interesting... I do not wear glasses or contacts, but just for giggles I tried them with the eye cups folded down. I was surprised to find that the image clarity at the edges greatly improved. So perhaps it was just an eye relief issue? Hmmm...

In fact, it seems that much of the field of view is nearly unusable. This seems especially true on the left side of BOTH barrels. In fact, they wouldn't be nearly as bad were not for the left side. Could this be an alignment issue (I did do an alignment test and everything seemed to be ok)?

Not an allignment issue, but some other kind of improper assembly. Defective for sure.

In fact, it seems that much of the field of view is nearly unusable. This seems especially true on the left side of BOTH barrels. In fact, they wouldn't be nearly as bad were not for the left side. Could this be an alignment issue (I did do an alignment test and everything seemed to be ok)?

Not an allignment issue, but some other kind of improper assembly. Defective for sure.

Thanks for the input. It didn't really seem consistent with what I had read about binoculars that are out of alignment. Thankfully it may be a non-issue...

I folded down the eye cups and ran out back. To check out the small orchid across the creek bottom. With the eye cups down I can now scan nearly edge to edge without distortion. This is very strange indeed but I am MUCH more happy with their performance now. It seems that all I needed to do was get my eyes closer to the eye piece.

I am pretty impressed with the Steiners since I figured out the eye cup/eye relief issue. I spent the afternoon watching birds down in the creek and deer up the hill behind my place. I just came in from viewing the creek under a cloudy sky and under dense tree cover. I can still easily pick out 1-2" diameter river rocks at a distance of about 50 yards and have no problem scanning through brush.

I have been comparing these to my Leupold Yosemites and I am really just marveling at what a great deal the Yosemites are. They really are great glass for the money but the gap between the 7x50 Steiners and the 6x30 Yosemites started to really show as the sun got below the horizon line. The Steiners really started to show a lot more detail as the sun got lower.

I have noticed that Steiners seem to give everything an amber tinge. My old 8x22 Steiner Safari bins do the same thing.

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